The Sustainable Urban Transitions (SUT) Lab was launched in April 2025 as a partnership of ETH Zurich and the Bolt Urban Fund, with the aim of supporting cities in accelerating their shift towards low-carbon, multimodal mobility systems. The SUT Lab aims to bring innovative, data-driven research into practical More
What would a non-sexist city look like? That was the question urban historian Dolores Hayden posed in 1980, during the transitional period between the second and third waves of feminism in the United States— a question that, more than forty years later, feels increasingly urgent across different parts More
A single species can tell us much about taste, power, and the cultural choices behind how we shape landscapes. Connected to the doctoral project Making Ornamental Trees, this article reflects on the Araucaria araucana, a conifer, and the stories carried by its long journey from the Andes in More
During the last year, members of the Chair of Architecture and Urban Transformation (also known as NEWROPE) have documented and systematised the chair’s teaching experiments – to set examples and to invite others to explore and perform “Working on Transformation” themselves. The examples revolve around pedagogical experiments, with More
Der Klimawandel erfordert tiefgreifende Massnahmen in allen Lebens- und Wirtschaftsbereichen. Ein Schwerpunkt liegt auf dem Wohnungswesen und dem Städtebau, die eine grosse Hebelwirkung für mehr Energieeffizienz und weniger CO2-Emissionen, aber auch für Anpassungsmassnahmen wie Hitzeminderung durch Begrünung oder Entsiegelung aufweisen. Doch welche Wechselwirkungen entstehen zwischen grünen Massnahmen und More
Displaced people often struggle to find affordable and dignified housing in cities, relying on the informal market. This is also true in Bogotá and Beirut, which host large numbers of displaced persons. This project explores and compares the housing challenges faced by displaced persons in the two cities More
Over 250 attendees – representing organisations from at least 11 countries – converged in Singapore on 4-5 September to participate in the “Future Cities: Science, Design, and Policy for Urban Transitions” Symposium & Exhibition Singapore 2025. Organised by the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) Global, in partnership with the More
On July 4, 2025, ETH Zurich’s Alumni Pavilion hosted the first MAS in Regenerative Systems thesis-in-process pitching, transforming the space into an immersive exhibition of regenerative practice. Eight Quests on a governance spiral linked individual projects to systemic contexts and fostered collaboration across ETH and practice partners. The More
We return from another record-breaking summer of heatwaves and extreme weather. Yet as days shorten and evenings cool, the topic of heat and urban development will remain a pressing concern for both science and planning. We illustrate how pre-trained deep learning models and open data can make it More
João Ferreira Nunes ist ein portugiesischer Landschaftsarchitekt und Gründer des Büros Proap, das 1989 in Lissabon gegründet wurde und Niederlassungen in Italien und Angola unterhält. Seine Arbeit zeichnet sich durch eine prozessorientierte Methodik und den Fokus auf langfristige Landschaftstransformationen aus. Nunes hat einen multidisziplinären Ansatz für Landschaftsarchitektur entwickelt, More
Boulouki ist ein interdisziplinäres Forschungskollektiv mit Sitz in Athen, das sich der Wiederbelebung und zeitgenössischen Anwendung traditioneller Bautechniken widmet. Das Kollektiv wurde 2018 gegründet und ist als gemeinnützige Gesellschaft organisiert. Zum Studio von Boulouki an der ETH Zürich gehören der Architekt Ionas Sklavounos, der Bauingenieur Nikiforos Meimaroglou, der More
The new project FEDORA develops multimodal traffic management solutions in future networks. The Traffic Engineering group, IVT at ETH Zurich, will work on social optimum models, developing dynamic pricing and incentivisation models for traffic management applications, as well as a model-agnostic simulation platform for seamless integration of diverse More
Modern cities suffer from a multitude of stressors, including congestion, pollution and crises. AntifragiCity is a new European research project that aims to deliver better services to citizens through antifragile designs, with solutions that improve under real-world stress. The Traffic Engineering group, IVT at ETH Zurich, leads the More
The average trip length in Swiss cities is under 14km, with around 60% of trips below 6km. Despite the potential for healthier, more sustainable alternatives, nearly half of the total distance travelled is by car. Bicycles play a key role in recent initiatives (e.g. E-Bike City project from More
How can urban areas shaped by both humans and non-humans be investigated and connected? This doctoral project explores naturecultural places in five European cities through first-person action research, engaging directly in their daily life. The aim of this approach is to understand how this model of urban transformation More
ETH Wohnforum – ETH CASE has launched a new standardised format for publishing Working Papers in the ETH Research Collection. The first papers to appear in this series stem from the project Tackling the Global Housing Challenges: Relevance and Replicability of Switzerland’s and Uruguay’s Housing Cooperatives’ Policies and More
Kann ein Waldspaziergang im Spital Stress senken? Virtuelle Realität macht es möglich. Eine Untersuchung mit gangunsicheren Seniorinnen und Senioren zeigt: Nach VR-Trainings in verschiedenen Landschaften fühlten sich die Teilnehmenden entspannter und sicherer, auch wenn ihre physiologischen Stresswerte stabil blieben. Ob Wald, Stadt oder Landwirtschaft: Die Wirkung war ähnlich More
Die Oberrheinische Tiefebene ist geprägt von Jahrhunderten des Wandels: vom amphibischen Lebensraum zum regulierten Fluss. Heute, im Zeichen von Klima- und Biodiversitätskrisen, eröffnet die Perspektive des «lebendigen Milieus» neue Wege, Landschaften jenseits von Fortschritts- oder Verlustnarrativen zu verstehen und zu gestalten.
How can agriculture become part of Zurich’s urban future? This question guided the joint study conducted by the Chair of Architecture of Territory together with Grün Stadt Zürich (GSZ), the City of Zürich’s public green space department. Against the backdrop of the city’s projected 25% population growth by More
How can cities plan safer cycling routes without reliable data on cycling infrastructure? Using machine learning on aerial imagery, we generated a comprehensive historical dataset of cycling-specific infrastructure across Switzerland’s largest urban areas. This opens new possibilities for planning and research.
In February 2025, over 40 practitioners, researchers, and educators came together at ETH Zürich for this colloquium, to discuss the evolving relationship between the design and maintenance of living systems. In response to accelerating climate uncertainty, shrinking municipal budgets, and precarious labour conditions, the colloquium posed a simple More
Switzerland’s cultural landscapes – green pastures and flowering hay meadows – have been deeply shaped by resources (forests, pastures, and irrigation water) governed as commons (Allmende). In spite of radical changes to their institutional and infrastructural framework, the irrigation systems of Canton Valais remain grounded in an enduring More
If you missed the event «E-Bike City: Results & Future», have a look at the downloads and recordings section on this website. It offers a brochure, presentations, posters, video recordings, and street visualisations. May they positively impact our traffic situation and quality of life!
Abraumhalden sind ein charakteristisches Landschaftselement ehemaliger Kohlebergbaugebiete. In Flandern und im französischen Norden werden sie Terrils genannt. Lange Zeit galten sie als Randzonen, wurden häufig abgetragen und als Erholungsflächen umgenutzt oder in Grün-Blau-Netzwerke integriert. In Einzelfällen bleiben sie als Zeugnisse des industriellen Erbes erhalten.
Scenario planning is increasingly used in urban planning in recognition of the uncertain and complex interactions between the built and the natural environment. Scenario planning develops alternative stories about the future, as combinations of important drivers of change, qualitatively. The use of computational models can inform the development More
Die Landschaftsarchitektur sieht sich im Kontext des Klimawandels mit vielfältigen Herausforderungen konfrontiert. Beim Umgang mit Wasserlandschaften treffen zunehmend intensivere hydrologische Dynamiken auf überwiegend statisch gestaltete Landschaften. Diese Entwicklung bedingt ein Umdenken und ein dynamischeres Verständnis der Wechselwirkungen zwischen Wasser und Land. Um zukunftsfähige und robuste Landschaften gestalten zu More
Urban farming and agrarian struggles are reshaping cities and urbanising landscapes. In Zurich and beyond, agroecological initiatives, political food movements, and global urbanisation projects reveal how urban and agrarian worlds are entangled and enmeshed – offering new ways to rethink planning, property, urban ecology, and the future of More
TANTAN’EAU – a wordplay merging «Tantano» (to manage in Malagasy) and «Eau» (water in French) – is a serious game that helps decision-makers explore flood risk management. Designed to balance playability, realism, and the incorporation of architectural propositions, it immerses players in the challenges of peri-urban development in More
New Orleans is a landscape paradox – a city largely below sea level, which continues to sink as the sea rises outside the levee walls that protect it. Despite its capacity to produce a tremendous amount of biomass and ecological diversity, the city’s urban forest has been in More
Nach sechs Jahren LiDAR-Vermessung aus der Luft ist nun die klassifizierte Punktwolke der Schweiz – swissSURFACE3D – für das gesamte Schweizer Territorium verfügbar. Zu diesem Anlass präsentierte Dr. Philipp Urech Forschungsarbeiten aus dem Large-scale Virtualization and Modeling Lab (LVML), ergänzt durch praktische Beispiele seiner wegweisenden Methode für die More
From bridges and tunnels to railways, Switzerland has always invested heavily in the upkeep of its infrastructure. But how does it keep everything operating safely and smoothly while also instilling confidence that nothing will go wrong? Read the full article at ETH News
At this year’s International Cooperation Forum, the Urban Transformation Project Sarajevo – including the first Urban Digital Twin for the Canton of Sarajevo was presented. The presentation took place during Session 4: Swiss Solutions for Smart Cities, in the presence of Swiss Federal Councilors Ignazio Cassis and Guy More
Kigali, Rwanda, has emerged as a pioneer in urban and digital transformation. Kigali sets a new inversed model of city development that expands from its hilltops downwards to the vital wetlands. The Kigali Unplanned Neighbourhood Upgrading Tool (KUNUT) provides a research platform that integrates digital technology with ecological More
For a century, highways have shaped cities, economies, and national identities. But in November 2024, Swiss voters rejected a CHF 5 billion highway expansion, signaling a shift away from infrastructure-led urbanisation. As nations worldwide double down on highway-driven growth, Switzerland’s moratorium invites us to rethink mobility, territorial organisation, More
Can housing cooperatives contribute to reintegrating former combatants into civil society? Can they evolve into a broader housing strategy for marginalised communities? What conditions are necessary for their sustainable growth within national housing systems? This research project examines the emergence of bottom-up housing cooperative initiatives by former combatants More
Durch die anhaltende Attraktivität von Städten als wirtschaftliche, kulturelle und soziale Zentren ist Wohnungsknappheit in Metropolitanräumen in ganz Europa zu einem akuten Problem geworden. Das Angebot an Wohnraum in Kernstädten konnte mit der Nachfrage nicht Schritt halten, weshalb dieses Forschungsprojekt die Auswirkungen der Wohnungsknappheit auf die umliegenden Regionen More
Während sich Familienstrukturen in der Schweiz rasant verändern, hält der Wohnungsmarkt weitestgehend an traditionellen Modellen fest. Das ETH Forum Wohnungsbau «ARCHITEKTUREN DER FAMILIE» beleuchtet aktuelle Dynamiken des Zusammenlebens und innovative Wohnformen. Expert:innen aus Forschung, Architektur und Immobilienwirtschaft diskutieren Lösungen für die Herausforderungen des sozialen Wandels.
Der ETH Master-Studiengang Raumentwicklung und Infrastruktursysteme bietet eine fundierte, interdisziplinäre Ausbildung in Stadtplanung, Mobilität und Infrastrukturmanagement. Durch die Verbindung von Theorie und Praxis entwickeln Studierende nachhaltige Lösungen für aktuelle Herausforderungen. In Kooperation mit Professorinnen, Professoren und Studierenden ist ein kurzes Video entstanden, um Studieninteressierte für diesen Fachbereich und More
Die Verbesserungen der Verkehrsinfrastrukturen auf Strasse und Schiene können nicht wie ursprünglich geplant umgesetzt werden. Der jüngste Ausbauschritt für die Nationalstrasse wurde von der Bevölkerung abgelehnt. Die Umsetzung des Angebotskonzepts 2035 der Bahn führt zu erheblichen Mehrkosten. Das Eidgenössische Departement für Umwelt, Verkehr, Energie und Kommunikation (UVEK) hat More
Die gängigen Materialien und Praktiken in der Schweizer Bauwirtschaft sind klimaschädlich, ressourcenintensiv und erzeugen viel Abfall. An der ETH Zürich sind zwei Flagship-Projekte von Innosuisse gestartet, um das Schweizer Bauwesen nachhaltig zu transformieren: Während «Swircular» das Fundament für eine zirkuläre Bauwirtschaft legt, ermöglicht «Think Earth» regeneratives Bauen mit More
On November 24, the Federal Expansion Step 2023 for Road was put up for a public vote. The Expansion Step 2023 is a project programme for national roads consisting of six major projects, including the widening of the A1 highway between Bern and Nyon, as well as three More
New Ruralities (NERU) is an Erasmus+ Cooperation partnerships programme, which brings together six design units within the universities of ULB (Brussels), POLITO (Torino), UDC (La Coruña), UMinho (Braga), UACEG (Sofia) and ETH (Zürich). The Newrope chair is participating on behalf of ETH. The partnership’s aim is to generate More
A new core theory course for master’s students taught for the third time in spring 2025 argues that the list of ‘great’ cities needs to be rethought. Given the diversity of urbanisms around the world, it would be a disservice to limit one’s perspective to theoretical notions originating More
The 16th Conference of Parties of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16) took place in Colombia during the last two weeks of October 2024. The city of Cali became the main stage for intergovernmental efforts to protect nature. A key outcome of the summit was recognising the More
The acoustic quality of outdoor spaces is receiving increasing attention in planning and design disciplines. Yet, it is very difficult for non-experts in acoustics to include the effects of landscape changes on the so-called soundscape in their daily work. In the Innovedum project «Unity App for Soundscape Design More
Rooted in the tension between concrete locations and global networks, between movement and stillness, space and place, and between clusters and dispersed zones, global production landscapes are challenging to understand. Where do these production spaces originate? Who owns, designs, and manages them? Due to the opaque nature of More
Responsiveness of planning processes is the ability to meet changing societal transport needs quickly in ways that are acceptable to all stakeholders. In Switzerland, considerable traffic jams and overfilled trains indicate that planning processes could be made more responsive. As delays for travelers persist, their needs are not More
Multi-disciplinarity is on the agenda for the contemporary architectural debate, and Researching Otherwise – edited by ETH-based scholar Nitin Bathla – takes a broad look at the topic. Divided into three chapters dedicated to transdisciplinary, sensory, and restitutive methods, the book presents pluriversal research projects, which range from More